Basically, the situation is this: episode 11, the end of Volume 2, will only sort-of be the season finale. There has been a new ending filmed that will serve as a finale, but if and when the strike ends, production will kick into high gear again and new episodes will with any luck start showing up before the official start of season 3. So think of it as an amped-up mid-season finale before an extended break. While the strike does not look like ending any time in the immediate future, word is that small amounts of progress are being made in the negotiations.

I take back what I said about the 'finale' being likely to be a bit wonky. That was a really great ending to Volume 2. It was honestly a bit hard to get a grip on what the core plot thread was, but now it's clear, and it should have been from the start. Volume 2: "Generations" was all about the previous generation of Heroes, and the unhappy legacy they left behind in the form of the Company and all that surrounds it. We've seen our new generation learn of it all and have to come to grips with it, and seen their determination to fight, to be heroes, to come together much as their forebears did, but to do things differently. They stood up to speak out about what they know, put an end to the lies and deception. But the Company, or what's left of it, put an end to that with two bullets.

And so now Volume 3: "Villains." Seems appropriate, somehow.

I always felt like a lot of the criticisms of Volume 2 would be lessened once we could take it as a whole, and I think I was right. It's still a bit clumsily told in places, but it's the second step along the road started in Volume 1. That was our origin story, and now we see our Heroes starting to be proactive, starting to save the world by their own volition, rather than just because fate put them where they were. We see them suffer from the sins of the fathers, and now begin their steps in growing into their own. Basically, the story arc that seemed vague and occasionally nonexistant has finally coalesced in the last moments. Between this and the news that (fates permitting) there will be more Heroes before season 3 officially starts, I'm pretty damn excited.

Some random, less profound thoughts on the episode:

- Damn, Hiro's gotten good.
- But damn, Peter's gotten good too. And almost turned to the Dark Side. You could almost hear Ian McDiamid cackling behind him saying "Goood, goooood! Use your agressive feelings, boy!"
- Aw, Nathan really came good in the end. Then took two in the chest. Damn. RIP, dude. Million to one odds it was Noah Bennett who pulled the trigger.
- The only real misstep of the episode was the handling of Niki's death. It just sort of... happened. They didn't really do her justice this season, nor the whole Micah/Monica thing. Hopefully that'll be made up for next season.
- Jeez Maya, stop making goo-goo eyes at god-damn Sylar. Oh, there we go. Oh, woops, he just shot you.
- Man, Sylar was bad-ass scary in this episode. Zachary Quinto obviously just loves getting his villain on.
- I was shocked by what Hiro did to Adam. Woah. Talk about cruel. I can't make up my mind as to whether he deserved that or not. Still, classic plot device: he's not dead, so any time the writers feel like trotting out a classic bad guy down the track, easy.
- Angella Petrelli is a stone-cold bitch. Good lord.

[link=http://www.heroesrevealed.com/interview/tim-kring-explains-heroes-volume-2-finale/]Tim Kring chimes in on the end of Volume 2.[/link]

The best news is this little nugget: "Originally, Quinto was not going to be available for much of Volume 3 because of his commitment to the new Star Trek film. Now, with the strike dragging on, he?ll likely be done playing young Spock by the time Heroes returns to production." I really loved Sylar in this episode, he finally got to show his true colours and be all menacing again, and it was clear that Zachary Quinto was really enjoying himself doing it. His character arc's been really fascinating, and I can't wait to see more of him.

EDIT - Oooh, and there's this little nugget too: "Just as the heroes have found each other to save the world, the villains will do the same with the opposite intent ... The Company has catalogued many of these people over the years. There may be more of them down in that basement than we have alluded to so far."

Yep... I agree with every random thought Tim posted.
* Damned if Hiro ain't turned into a cold hearted bastard when it comes to dealing with certain people... I'm impressed. On the other side of the coin from Palpatine cackling at Peter, I could picture Vader saying "Impressive, most impressive. But you are not a Hero yet" as Hiro confronts Adam and Peter. After we see what our wimpy office worker does with Adam, I can picture someone saying "Good job, Carp!" in a cultured English accent.
* I'll put money on Noah being the one to waste Nathan. Though it'll break my heart if he really does. I've grown to respect Noah as a character, I'll find it difficult to believe that he could swing back to the utterly corrupt evil of the Company to protect his family. I know he's capable of doing anything to protect them, but killing someone so close to Claire would, IMO be a betrayal of Claire's faith in him.
* Wondering what Angela meant by the Pandora's Box comment...
* Speaking on Angie... how callous can a person get? Finding out your eldest son is dead, and simply saying it was unavoidable? Just what is so damn important that it over-rides grief?
* Maybe now that Adam's been locked in a box underground, we've got a taste of what lies in store for Sylar... it'll be interesting to see exactly what effect the injection of Claire's blood will do to the nutter. We saw that it heals him and restores his powers, but will it do more? The whole brain-eating thing was enough to give Sylar new powers, what if it's something as simple as genetically mapping the sequence once a sample is in his body, and then replicating the talent? Perhaps the whole brain-eating thing is just Sylar's gruesome way of sampling the target DNA?

[link=http://www.heroesrevealed.com/spoiler/volume-2-what-changed-volume-3-whats-next/]Mild spoilers[/link] for what we ought to expect from Volume 3. Sounds pretty damn awesome. There's also a little bit detailing some of the changes that happened in Volume 2 from what was initially planned, mainly related to Elle and West's respective rolls and relationships to other characters.

I'm obviously psyched about this. Say what you like about the truncated season 2 of Heroes, the last 3 or 4 episodes were top-notch, and the Volume 3 teaser at the end of the season was almost as excruciating as the Volume 2 teaser. Tim Kring said that they were going to ramp up production again as (super?)humanly possible as soon as the strike ended, and here's talk that that's exactly what's happening. Frickin' fantastic.

I looked into it a while back. Seems like it's an extended version of the Hiro/Charlie episodes rather than a new story. A little odd for them to commission such a narrowly-focused novelisation in such an expansive universe.

I wouldn't mind picking up the hardcover compilation of the season one comics, though. I've never been entirely comfortable with extended reading in the bite-sized format.

Ladies and gentlemen, the [link=http://heroesspoilers-odi.blogspot.com/2008/08/heroes-season-2-alternate-ending-and.html]alternate season two ending[/link].

It's interesting that they didn't stick with this storyline. It would have made a compelling (if cruel) cliffhanger. Presumably, the strike gave them extra time to think things over, and changed the direction for artistic reasons, rather than for simple closure.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Heroes again. By this point I really trust Tim Kring and company to treat season two as a learning experience and play on the show's strengths.

Edit: [link=http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2008/08/heroes-in-talks.html]Seth Green is in talks to join the cast.[/link] Between this and Kristin Bell's prolonged guest role, Heroes is gradually turning into a trendy gathering ground for cult TV alumni. It's only a matter of time before Katee Sackhoff and Kyle Mclachlan sign on.

Thanks HB, that was interesting. From a superhero geek perspective, I think I would have preferred this ending; Matt gets a power-up, Peter gets a power-up, Nathan becomes the Leader of this new generation of Heroes, and Hiro and Adam's duel ends with Adam actually beating his centuries-long nemesis.

I'm still very tempted to go through the HEroes Season 2 box set and make a "good parts versions", but then I'd be that kind of geek I despise

And with that power, Kaito could still be the Batman of the Golden Age Heroes

Don't have access to Goobs computer and can't watch.....aaaarrrrrrgh. What else am I gonna do at 6am??

Oh I got the geekiest heroes shirt from online t-shirt place. SO geeky Goob refuses to wear it. It's got a print of a painted like montage of faces of the main characters. I would have worn a similar Star Trek one when I was 19. GEEK!

So if anyone wants it..even if just to sit at home and watch Heroes episodes..let me know. Free btw. Was gonna give it to one of you for a birtday? Chrissie gift but it's almost too geeky that I can't be sure you'll just think I have bad taste.